Middle powers amid Sino-U.S. rivalry: assessing the ‘good regional citizenship’ of Australia and Indonesia

Abstract

This paper argues that amid intensifying Sino-U.S. rivalry, middle powers in East Asia have contributed towards regional peaceful change through the exercise of good regional citizenship, a concept which draws on and modifies from the more commonly known good international citizenship which is closely associated with middle powers. Specifically, good regional citizenship involves proactively strengthening inclusive multilateralism, enhancing the rules-based order, and contributing to bridging efforts in East Asia. The paper examines the good regional citizenship of two middle powers, namely Australia and Indonesia. It finds that while both countries have exercised good regional citizenship, their specific strategies or the outcomes of their initiatives on regional dynamics have varied as a result of their relations with the respective major powers and their general foreign policy approaches. Australia’s good regional citizenship has supported the preservation of U.S. leadership in East Asia vis-à-vis the rise of other regional powers, while Indonesia’s good regional citizenship has helped to narrow the gaps among regional actors through mechanisms led by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

Keywords:

• ASEAN
• Australia
• Indonesia
• good regional citizenship
• middle powers
• multilateralism

Acknowledgements

The author is grateful to participants of the RSIS Workshop on ‘Sources of Peace in East Asia’, as well as the journal’s anonymous reviewers, for their comments and feedback on earlier drafts.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Sarah Teo

Sarah Teo is an Assistant Professor and Coordinator of the Regional Security Architecture Programme at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore. Her research interests include multilateral security and defence cooperation in ASEAN and the Asia Pacific, middle powers in the Asia Pacific, as well as IR theory.